QRP Friends:

For those of you who don’t know, I’m the founder and director of a newly formed non-profit organization called Ears To Our World (ETOW). ETOW’s mission is to send self-powered shortwave radios to schools in the developing world–you may have seen us recently featured in the Dec. 2009 edition of Popular Communications. You can check us out at:

Many of you have been watching and listening to the reports coming out of Haiti in the aftermath of the recent earthquake. As you can imagine, the need for information in Haiti is urgent and that means, of course, that radios are needed. In light of this crisis, ETOW has decided to temporarily broaden our mission; next week we will send a substantial number of ETOW radios (donated by Eton/Grundig) to Haiti via our partner, Operation USA. We are preparing our radios for shipment as rapidly as we can.

As QRPers and ham radio operators, you know well the power of radio. If you’d like to help, please do what you can. Even a few bucks can help with our expedited shipping costs to get our radios to Haiti. Donations can be made via PayPal on ETOW’s website http://earstoourworld.org.

Let’s all do what we can to help these folks.

Thank you & 72,
Thomas

KF4TZK

Announcements, Events, Morse Code, News

Ohio QRPers take break from Field Day to smoke some texters

June 28, 2009 k4swl Leave a comment

In the spirit of a segment from The Tonight Show with Jay Leno which aired in 2005, Marion County, Ohio, amateurs staged a face-off between CW operators and local texters to draw public attention to their 2009 Field Day event.

And it worked.

Mind you, neither CW op [my good friend and fellow RAT, Mike Hansgen (K8RAT) and Bill Finnegan (NR8I)] knew the event was taking place and thus, did not practice beforehand.

Read the full article here.

News

Google commemorates 218th anniversary of Morse’s birthday

April 27, 2009 k4swl Leave a comment

I woke up this morning to find the search engine, Google, in morse code. What a great way to commemorate Samuel Morse’s birthday. _ _. _.._ google!

Click here to read Wikipedia’s biography of Samuel Morse.

News

John Kanzius, K3TUP (SK)

February 20, 2009 k4swl 1 Comment

John Kanzius, K3TUP (SK)

There are few hams in this world that I admire more than John Kanzius, K3TUP. John took knowledge from his amateur radio hobby and applied it to the medical field. His new cancer treatment research has been called the most promising medical innovation in decades.

Read the ARRL article about him here.

We will miss you, John, but are happy that your research continues on!

73/72

Tom Witherspoon (KF4TZK)

Articles, Homebrew, Websites

The Das DereLicht QRP transmitter–A bright idea

December 28, 2008 k4swl 6 Comments

Make Magazine’s blog recently featured the Das DereLicht–a QRP transmitter made almost entirely from the electronic components found in within a CFL Bulb. The transmitter, was designed by Michael J. Rainey (AA1TJ) who was inspired while changing a defective CFL bulb in his kitchen.

For some reason, I began to wonder if it would be possible to build a QRP CW transmitter using the electronic components salvaged from this derelict lamp.

Indeed, I’m pleased to report that a perfectly serviceable transmitter may be constructed! The only additional components required were the quartz crystal, and four of the five components needed for the output lowpass filter. The resulting transmitter produces up to 1.5 watts on 80m.

Michael, thanks for creating such a cool, simple, little QRP project. I’m ready to (carefully) tear into an old CFL bulb and give it a try!

Articles, Satellites

Work a satellite–QRP style

December 19, 2008 k4swl 1 Comment

Clint Bradford, K6LCS, recently posted a link to his website on the HF Pack group. He has a great article about working satellites AO-51 and SO-50 from low power rigs. QRP HF rigs like the Yaesu FT-817–which have VHF/UHF–are ideal for this type of satellite work. This article is well written and contains good references. I should mention that Clint is an AMSAT Area Coordinator in California and uses this document in his presentations.

Links:

Link to article, “Work Satellites with your HT!” (click here for uncompressed)
K6LCS’s website and blog
AMSAT website

Announcements, News

Radio time station CHU is moving

December 12, 2008 k4swl Leave a comment

After seventy years of broadcasting Canada’s official time, NRC’s shortwave station CHU will move the transmission frequency for the 7335 KHz transmitter to 7850 KHz. The change goes into effect on 01 January 2009 at 00:00 UTC.

Many QRPers use CHU to check propagation and UTC in the field. Follow this link to a full press release on The SWLing Post.

Homebrew, Morse Code

The perfect key to use when you’re in a pinch.

December 5, 2008 k4swl Leave a comment

I think this homebrew key by Laurent Dumas (F8BBL) is simply amazing. It’s portable, easy to make from spare parts lying about the house and can serve you well if you’re in a pinch. (Sorry, I just can’t use this pun enough).

Admittedly, I think there would be some serious operator fatigue if you tried to use this key in a contest. But for emergencies–it certainly fits the bill!

If you can’t see the embedded video below, simply click this link.

News

Sol food! Sunspot numbers on the rise.

November 14, 2008 k4swl Leave a comment

According to a new article published by NASA, we may have finally hit the rock bottom of the Solar Cycle and are on our way to Solar Cylce 24. According to sunspot forecaster David Hathaway of the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, the recent sun spots groups that have appeared on the sun belong to Solar Cycle 24. This is an encouraging development since we have been dealing with the solar minimum for what feels like an eternity in QRP time (nearly 2 years, according to NASA).

I’ve seen a lot of discussions on ham radio sites, in the ham press and in email groups about hams waiting to try QRP until the next sun spot cylce is in full swing. I don’t think this is necessary. In fact, I have been operating QRP throughout this lull and found that the solar minimum has had no effect on my daily/weekly QRP QSOs in the lower bands (160/80 & 40 Meters). I’ve also done some pretty respectable DX in the higher bands as well. Yes, those DX contacts are more rare, but it makes me appreciate each one even more.

With that said, QRP will really come alive in the higher bands in a couple of years. There’s no better time to hone your skills than to be practicing when the going is tougher. It’ll make you a better operator. I promise.

So, box up that amplifier and sell it on eBay. Then, find the power knob on your transceiver and turn it down until you barely notice the power output meter trembling–hit the air and have some QRP fun!

News

WorldRadio Magazine now a part of the CQ family

November 13, 2008 k4swl Leave a comment

I have subscribed to the basic black and white newsprint magazine, “WorldRadio” several times since I first got my ticket. I’ve actually known several hams who have published in this magazine–can’t say that for the glossy magazines.

I also enjoy reading Richard Fisher’s (KI6SN) QRP column each month. He also hosts a very nice QRP blog found here.

It looks like WorldRadio will now become a part of the CQ family of magazines. According to the press release, CQ wants to respect WorldRadio’s flavor, but will transition everyone’s subscription to CQ and make WorldRadio available online. They will keep Nancy Kott (WZ8C) as Editor.

Here is the Press Release:

(Hicksville, NY and Sacramento, CA, November 12, 2008) — CQ Communications, Inc. has acquired “WorldRadio” magazine, CQ Publisher Dick Ross, K2MGA and “WorldRadio” Publisher Armond Noble, N6WR, announced jointly today. CQ, based in Hicksville, New York, currently publishes “CQ Amateur Radio, CQ VHF” and “Popular Communications” magazines.

“WorldRadio”, based in Sacramento, California, has been published monthly since July, 1971, with a primary focus on the human side of ham radio. “CQ”, a general-interest ham radio magazine best
known for its support of DXing and contesting, has been in print since January, 1945.
Armond Noble, N6WR, Publisher of “WorldRadio”, said that at the age of 74 the time had come for him to retire. “I wanted to be sure that ‘WorldRadio’ found a good home, and that our readers would continue to be served by an independent voice in amateur radio,” Noble said.

“CQ” Publisher Dick Ross, K2MGA, said, “‘WorldRadio’ has filled an important niche in our hobby for nearly four decades. We welcome “WorldRadio’s” readers to the CQ family, and we look forward to
meeting their needs for many years to come.”

Current plans call for “WorldRadio” to continue to be published online as part of the CQ family of magazines, with Editor Nancy Kott, WZ8C, continuing in that position. “WorldRadio” subscribers
will also have their subscriptions transferred to “CQ” magazine. Readers will be notified of details as plans are finalized.